Showing posts with label International. Show all posts
Showing posts with label International. Show all posts

Tokyo Grand Slam 2015 - On the Other Side
December 24th, 2015

Last year in September, during the All Japan Junior tournament, I had the chance to go see one of my senseis, Akinori Hongo, who had come to Canada to learn English and French. During his time here in Canada, I met him a few times, and even participated in one of the camps he directed. 

Now last year, I had gone to speak to him alone, this being only a week after I had landed in Japan, thus I didn't know much Japanese. Yet I knew his English was very good and so I was not afraid to approach him. At that time, we had spoken simply about my trip, and what were my plans from now on, and the entire conversation took place in English.

This year, at that same tournament, there he was again, and I took the chance again to go see him. Having learned a lot more Japanese by then, I was confident I would be able to handle a conversation in Japanese. After about 5 minutes of talking, he told me he was really surprised with the level of my Japanese, and suddenly asked me if I'd be interested in working a part time job at a major tournament. I told him I would be very interested, although deep down I didn't believe myself able to. He went and checked with a man working there, and came back and told me he would contact me later on if the position was open. We exchanged contact information, and I returned back to my teammates to keep cheering our team on.

About a month later, a message came saying that there would be a job for after all me at the 2015 Tokyo Grand Slam, as an interpreter. My heart sprang out of my chest. I believed this kind of opportunity quite the honour, especially considering that I have only been in Japan for one year. He then asked me if I could come in for an interview, just to get in contact once at least before I started working. We arranged a date to meet, and I then told my parents about the news. They were really proud of me of course. 

Then I started preparing for it, and that's when fear kicked in. What was I thinking? I do NOT have the skill set to translate that fast or well enough to work at such an event! What if they asked me to translate live? I would never be able to handle that. I have reached a very good level of Japanese, but I am far from mastering it. After speaking again with my parents, I decided that I would just see how things are. I verified with my boss what exactly I would be doing and it didn't seem like it was something I couldn't handle. All I knew was that this was not going to be an easy task.

Before I actually started working, I was asked to participate in two different meetings, during which we went over the plan of the tournament and how it was to be run. There were people from TV Tokyo, one of Japan's biggest television companies, people from construction companies, people from electric companies, and people from the All Japan Judo Federation, for which I was working. I didn't understand everything, but I got a general idea of how many things had been planned in order for this tournament to happen.














The week of the tournament, we started the preparations. I went many times back and forth from the AJJF to the Kodokan to the Tokyo Gymnasium (location of the tournament), and started to get familiar with the place. All I did most of the time was simply fill in cards in card holders for all the coaches, athletes, VIPs and etc. I also tried to listen in as much as possible to all the conversations, gathering even more information which would be necessary to perform a good job.

The two days before the tournament, the people from the IJF (International Judo Federation) started arriving at the site. This is when I came in. I was asked to transmit messages here and there, back and forth from Japanese to English and vice-versa, mostly verifying information. I got to meet many people, and surprisingly a lot of them spoke French. 



The day before the tournament, something I was not expecting happened. I was simply talking with one of the IJF staff members, when I was called over in hurry to the main room. I walked in to discover that the tables had all been moved, that the IJF members were all sitting facing the rest of the Japanese organizations. My boss showed me the seat next to him, and I sat down, feeling like I had made everyone wait. My boss, Mr. Takemura then told me that he would need me to translate for him to the IJF, and back to him what the IJF was saying. Without any further information, he then started the meeting.

My heart stopped. For about ten seconds.

What did I get myself into this time...? 

Throughout the meeting, I translated my best what I could from Japanese to English, and then back to English, and I found out that I was the interpreter for the WHOLE meeting, and so I was not only speaking and translating for my department, but for everyone in that room. There were many moments where I didn't understand my own boss' explanations, not just due to my level of Japanese, but more so that I didn't understand the functioning of the tournament in general. But I managed to help them communicate and most of them were kind enough to me with their explanations.









I made it through that meeting and the rest of the tournament. I was told to translate a speech from Japanese to English and another one from English to Japanese (before it was performed of course), as well as ask many questions about presentations, and the running of the tournament. I was also asked to help with the medical department at one point where an athlete suffered a concussion. At that time, I met the doctor that had helped me with my knee injury back in January, Mr. Miyazaki, which made it even more interesting.



Over all, I must say it was a great experience. I went through many tough times, but it allowed me to see a whole other side of the Japanese. It has also placed me in a much better position when it comes to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, during which I wish to work, and also to most of my friends and teachers of the Judo club who saw me working.


Another big thank you to Mr. Hongo and Mr. Takemura for the opportunity.


(Kotaro and I from the other side.)









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Yokohama Project
September 28th, 2015

Last week, my friend invited me to an event which would take place in Yokohama, and had something to do with high school students. I wasn't too sure what I was getting into, but speaking with high school students is always fun since they are not as shy as university students, so I decided I would go and help out.

So on Sunday, I headed off to the station to meet all those gathered for the event. We left at about 8:20 and arrived at around 9:30 at our destination. We walked into the building, and found out that all the high school students were already waiting for us. We were given a number, and we then split into our proper groups.

After being explained our task for about one hour, we were served food. This was most likely going to become a new product, since we were asked some feedback upon it. During this whole time, I tried talking as much as I could to the two girls next to me. I wanted to make them comfortable with me and likewise feel comfortable with them. Since we would spend the rest of the day together, I wanted to make it as pleasant as possible. I started nicely, but then made more and more jokes, stupid ones too, and surprisingly, they responded well to it all. They added on to the jokes and we had some good laughs. We finished the report, and waited for the rest of the groups to finish. Then, it was time to leave and walk the town of Yokohama.

We headed out to the China Town. Now I've been there more than enough times now that I can almost tell where we are in the middle of this crazy place. My grandmother herself told me she has only been to Yokohama twice in her life. Crazy. We walked a bit here and there, then found a place to eat a small and VERY HOT Chinese dumpling. It was good, but I ended up burning my tongue on it. The professor who was following our group was the one who ended up paying for it, which was very nice of him.


(Love this picture I took of China Town.)

We walked some more and then headed out to the Yamashita Park, near the main port. I still love the feeling this city has when it comes to being near the sea. You can just feel the air and the atmosphere change as you walk along the side of the water.

(This feeling...)

(I translated most of what was going on for this Afghan.)

(This was my group.)

This took us to the Marine Tower, which was another one of our goals. Before getting there, I grabbed myself a strawberry milkshake at McDonalds, which made everyone laugh. We also passed the Hotel New Grand, which I had seen once before during a past trip here. I ended up explaining to the group the history of this building, which I know so very well (thanks to my dad.) We climbed it, using the stairs and not the elevator, and received a nice card for it too! The view from up there was quite... astonishing! I haven't climbed the Sky Tree yet, so I don't know how that feels, but here was most likely better since we could see the sea. Actually, we could see the Sky Tree from where we were.

(Marine Tower from Yokohama.)

(Miyu and I. She was really helpful that day.)

(This sign was waiting for us at the top of the tower. It means "Congratulations on your efforts in climbing this tower. You have reached your goal." I just found it funny.)

After making our way down, we headed back through China Town, grabbed some ice cream cones and headed back to the first building. From there, we prepared our presentation. We had to present how we felt about the city and give feedback on the different places we went to see. I took charge of the group, directing everyone on what to do and write, and got our whole team rolling and ready on time. I also ended up making a few funny comments during our presentation which made the crowd laugh. That was amazing to do in a different language.

(Our group, hard at work.)

After the whole event was over, and I had said goodbye to the new friends I had made, I headed off to one of the best ramen shops I had ever been with Ayaka (Japanese) and Heiki (Finland). I had been there once before and so I knew it was worth the walk and wait. After about an hour and a half of just that, we sat down and chowed down our delicious meal.

We split at the station, and Heiki and I headed back to Tokai after a long day. I really enjoyed the experience, and I have to thank those high school students for it.


(View from the top of Marine Tower. Welcome, to Yokohama.)

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Yokohama's Firework Competition 2015!
August 5th, 2015

So yesterday, I was able to see one of Japan's biggest fireworks display in Yokohama. On my way there, around 2:30pm, I ran into a couple of friends who were apparently also heading there. They offered me a ride since they were driving there. Now going by train would have most likely been faster, but it was a hot sunny day, and I felt like being with friends. So off we were, seven of us in a car, to Yokohama. I played music from my phone the whole way there, and we danced and sang while some slept. Must say it was quite fun. It's been a while since I've been in a car compared to Canada, where I ride one mostly every day.

(Party bus, here we go! Ryuji, Takumi, Yusei, Mizuho, (Taiwanese girl), and (Bangladesh girl).)

They dropped me off an hour and ten minutes later in front of the Yokohama station. I said goodbye, thanked them for the ride, and entered the station to meet Arisa who was waiting for me. I also got the chance to meet her mother for the first time, which was interesting. After that, we headed off into the station, looking at many different shops, and then eating lunch at a fairly nice restaurant. The meal reminded me of my mom's cooking, and it made me think about my return back home.

After that, we started getting ready for the fireworks. We sat down in one spot at first, but as soon as the fireworks started we realized we could only see half of it, so after about ten minutes, we decided to get up and move. Now this is when Japan shows itself. The number of people walking in the streets is just incredible. There were over 20,000 people watching these fireworks. Whatever you believe to be a reasonable amount of space in Canada is reduced by about 6 times here. Basically a sea of people, of which we were now part of. We found a better spot in the end, and stood in the middle of hundreds of people taking pictures of the sky.

I must say, these fireworks were not bad at all. I saw some that changed colour halfway and others that changed shape. In the end, I believed it was worth it.

(Japan is a country of firework, or so I was told...)

(Lots of people = lots of garbage!)

After it was over, we decided to go see Anzu who was working at Coldstone at this time. Now, after the fireworks, everyone obviously heads into the mall, so it was jam-packed. We spotted Anzu working hard with the millions of customers coming at her. Japan is crazy. Anzu managed to get them to sing a song for us which was really nice to see in person. I had heard from many people and seen many videos of her doing so, but seeing it live was just that much better. I must say, Anzu is just a great person.

(Me, Anzu, Arisa, and some random girl that decided to join us for the picture haha.)

While eating our delicious ice cream, we headed to the Osambashi, a boat shaped hall built half into the water. Last time I came here, again with Arisa, we had seen a world championship of Coma take place. This time, we simply went there for the view of the city. We stayed there watching the city's lights flicker.

(Walking in the streets of Yokohama at night.)

I don't see this kind of scenery in Manitoba, and so this really blew me away. A city built by the Japanese society. If any of you have a chance, please take the time to check out the view of the Yokohama city at night from Osambashi. It's something to see during one's lifetime on Earth.

(Yokohama, this city that opened Japan to the world.)


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Japanese food party gone international!
April 20th, 2015

On April 11th, the staff from the international dorms along with the university hosted a Japanese food party at the Kaikan! Many students living in the international dorms joined in to help cook a traditional meal. It was quite fun actually, not to mention delicious.

(This is what I consider to be priceless.)

(Cooking with friends from all over the world.)



(Katayama lost a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors, and was forced to eat a HUGE onigiri, a Japanese rice snack. Man I have some really funny ideas sometimes... ;-))


After we were done, we also got to see a one hour show of ocarina (a type of vessel flute).


(Thai girls clapping along to the music.)

Once that was done, we were basically free to do what we wanted, but since everyone was here, many of us took advantage to play some games. I organized a soccer game, but not just a normal game. Our teams were made out of 6 countries (Italia, Nigeria, Japan, Taiwan, Canada, Denmark). It was a really high-pace game, and we finished exhausted. 

But I wasn't just done yet. The Italians who were the new students here, happened to know the game "Ninja" which is a game I used to play often back in my high school during lunch time. I joined in and soon caught everybody's attention, since I won almost every game. After that, the Italians started another foot game, to which I lost very quickly, and then went off to play baseball with a few guys and the dorm dean! I missed playing catch with my dad, since he used to do it every year a little before his softball season started. It was funny because the dorm deans' throwing style was quite similar to my father's, and so it brought back the feeling of home. 

(Italians!)

(Yeah, this foot game is crazy!)

After that, I managed to convince others to come play soccer again. This time, we played much longer. But at this point, I realized how my training made a difference. Even though I had been running the whole afternoon, they were the first ones to fall down tired. I kept pushing them to play more, and we all encouraged each other on!

After that, me and Katayama, one of the new staff for this semester grabbed some badminton rackets, and had a go at it, despite the hard wind which had built up by then. After about 30 minutes of that, I decided it was time I go inside and finish up some studies and cleaning.

I really enjoyed this day since I got to play many sports. I really do miss getting to play a variety of sports like I did back in high school. This day really brought out a good vibe, and I hope I get some time during this next semester for more.
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A different side to Japan: Chinko Matsuri
April 19th, 2015

Japan is widely known for its traditional culture, but also for its weird culture. There are many odd things embedded within the culture that a lot of people actually enjoy. For example, in the convenience store, there are porn magazines for sale. I still can't quite wrap my head around that. There's also a lot of odd anime, manga, and TV shows magazines.

Now, since a while, there had been talk of going to what they call "Chinko Matsuri". "Chinko" means penis and "matsuri" means festival. So in other words, there actually is a Penis Festival here in Japan. Now, I have no interest in this kind of thing, but many of the students were going and asked me to come along. In the end, I decided to go see this side of the Japanese culture. This was April 5th, the weekend before school started.

I learned that this actually happens to be the most popular festival among the foreigners in Japan. Once we arrived at the station, which was near Yokohama, the streets were already filled with people, mostly foreigners. Even the train had been filled to the walls. It was raining, so we ended up buying umbrellas there. We then headed to the starting location of the festival, and waited in the midst of hundreds of umbrellas and cameras for about 20 minutes. Then it started. They carried out three huge penises while shouting words of encouragement. We all just laughed so hard!

(The.. shrine? getting carried out...)

(Shotaro, Yoko, and Sachiho feeling perverted!)

(Apparently this guy is famous in Japan.)

After that, Valentina and I wanted to find ourselves some candy, and so we got in line. After about 15 minutes of waiting, I came out of the shop with a bag of sexual part shaped candies. Just watching people eat these was really hysterical.

It was getting quite cold, so we headed back to Yokohama, where we had planned to eat at a Chinese buffet! This was my third time here in the Chinatown of Yokohama, but my first time in an all-you-can-eat restaurant. Jokes, laughter, and smiles accompanied us while we ordered and ate many different dishes!

(The restaurant we picked. It likely was a hotel before since it still looked like one.)

(Chinatown in Yokohama.)





(Those crazy enough to attend such a festival!)

We headed back about one hour and a half later, still laughing about the day's adventure.
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